NEW YORK (AP) -- An unexpected rise in the U.S. unemployment rate pushed most stocks down Friday as investors moved money into safer assets.

The unemployment rate climbed to a seven-month high in November as employers added just 39,000 jobs. Economists had expected a gain of 145,000.

The unemployment rate climbed to 9.8 percent from 9.6 percent.
Investors had hoped that a strong jobs report would help extend a two-day stock rally. Expectations of job growth rose Wednesday after a report showed that hiring at small businesses increased to the highest levels in three years. That along with signs of stronger retail spending pushed the Dow Jones industrial average up 356 points over Wednesday and Thursday.

"In order for stocks to push through their highs for this year, we're going to need a positive number on the jobs front," Todd Salamone, the director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research, had said before the report.

The Dow Jones industrial average was down 22.25, or 0.2 percent, to 11,340.16 in midday trading.

Durable Goods Revised To Even Worse October Print
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/03/2010 10:21 -0500

Last week's advance durable goods report, which everyone promptly forgot about because it showed, gasp, bad data, just got even worse. Today, the final revision of the durable goods number was released, showing an even greater drop in durable goods orders. To wit: instead of a -3.3% decline, the final number in durable goods ended up being -3.4%: "New orders for manufactured durable goods in October, down two of the last three months, decreased $6.9 billion or 3.4 percent to $195.7 billion, revised from the previously published 3.3 percent decrease. This followed a 4.9 percent September increase." And as expected the artificial inventory led "bounce" refuses to relent: "Inventories of manufactured durable goods in October, up ten consecutive months, increased $1.5 billion or 0.5 percent to $316.9 billion, revised from the previously published 0.4 percent increase. This followed a 0.7 percent September increase." In other words: fake recovery, based on increasingly more fake numbers, relying on hoarding of unsellable products (just as GM has been doing lately).

Here are the key subindices that caught our attention at the advance release:

Private payrolls +50K on expectations of +160K! Retail Manufacturing payrolls plunge 13K on expectations of +5K. Previous revised down to -7K. As Zero Hedge expected the ADP was totally and completely off. And so the myth of the recovery can suck it.

From the report:

The unemployment rate edged up to 9.8 percent in November, and nonfarm payroll employment was little changed (+39,000), the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Temporary help services and health care continued to add jobs over the month, while employment fell in retail trade. Employment in most major industries changed little in November.

And the bad news continues: Average Hourly Earnings M/M at 0.0% on expectations of 0.2%. But please keep buying those iPads with Fed money. ( )

And more bad news: Labor Force Participation does not move up one bit, remaining flat at 64.5% contrary to expectations that people would start coming back to the work force.

Knight Capital's take:

With unemployment rising to 9.8% as job seekers re-enter the market (the pool of available labor rose 239K during the month and the civilian labor force rose 103K) we could have been okay with this report as it is normal for job recoveries to begin with encouraged workers. However when combined with NFP of 39K and Private Payrolls of 50K, it is hard to be encouraged. Discouraged workers rose and the "underemployment" level remains at 17%.

Where are the positives? The prior month was upgraded from 151K to 172K for NFP and up 1K to 160K for private payrolls. There was also not a distortion from the oft criticized birth/death ratio as new businesses were assumed to have resulted in a loss of 8K jobs. Thus, the number is "cleaner" than usual. Also temporary help rose for the fourth consecutive month, usually a positive sign of future permanent hiring, but we have seen it give a false positive before in this market.

Economy Needs To Create 235K Jobs A Month To Return To Pre-Depression Levels By End Of Obama Second Term
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 12/03/2010 09:18 -0500

When we last ran this number, the economy needed to create 232,400 jobs per month to get to the same unemployment rate as last seen in December 2007, just before the depression started, courtesy of today's massive disappointment we can now increase the creation requirement to 235,120. As a reminder this is the number of jobs per month that need to be created between December 2010 and November 2016, or the end of Obama's now improbable second term, for jobs to recover their losses when taking into account the natural growth of the labor force of 90,000 people per month. Also, when ignoring the demographic shift, or just accounting for the absolute number in jobs without accounting for the labor force growth which is so wrong only the BLS looks at that number, the breakeven has been pushed back from June 2013 to July 2013. Economic collapse you can finally believe in. And now, with the BLS' good graces, the government can promptly pass the jobless benefits extension, which is what this whole doctored data charade is all about.

Did anyone hear about the real amount of "loans" doled out by the federal reserve? Remember those 700, 800 and 600 billion bailouts. Well the REAL numbers are around 9 TRILLION! That's right. The u.S. federal reserve has invented 9 TRILLION dollars for Wall Street and wait for it..........Europe!
All of those mortgages that were bundled together then sold on the market have returned. Europe finally figured out the fraud that was sold to them called Mortgage Backed Securities.
Basically. Wall Street banks put these mortgages up for collateral. Knowing all the while, most were JUNK.
When the u.S. banks were called on their FRAUD. The media tried to cover the bank's tracks by blaming the crisis on sub-prime borrowers. Then comes the foreclosure storm. This tactic was needed to keep the banks solvent. Or at least appear solvent on paper. When Europe called in their marks for what was owed. The banks foreclosed on homeowners.
This ugly scene is being played out in courtrooms across America as people are demanding to see the official mortgage documents. This led the banks to ROBO-SIGN or copy (fake) mortgages. So far, the people are winning in the lower courts by exposing the outright FRAUD that has been perpetrated all over the world. I expect to see the u.S. congress to intervene to protect the banks. The federal, State and local governments are heavily invested in the bond and futures markets for their pensions. So don't think for one minute your congressman or senator will be obliged to protect the homeowner.
When the banks foreclose or repossess "property". This insures the banks with hard assets, which in turn, pays the politicians.
The tangled webs of this parasite system is becoming clearer with each passing day. For some good explanations and post. Check out www.whatreallyhappened.com. GG